What are you reading this summer?

Things are not going to plan, although to be fair there really hasn’t been much of a plan. July disappeared in a bit of a blur of hospitals and care homes, with a whole lot of admin thrown in between. Phone calls and forms have been the order of the day and now begins the business of clearing and cleaning my Mum’s flat so it can be sold. But everyday feels like a small positive step forward and that wasn’t what I had planned to write about today, so I won’t… you see, I can sometimes stick to a plan.

The current pile of books on my bedside table… it seems to grow faster than I can read!

Now, where was I? Ah yes, the plan. In the spirit of this being a bit like a Sunday supplement and given that come early summer all the best Sunday supplements feature book choices for the holidays recommended by authors, critics and celebrities alike, back towards the end of June I thought I would do the same. Something along the lines of ‘The Six Best Summer Reads’ to launch us into the summer holiday season, although of course they wouldn’t necessarily be the best, just a few of my favourites. But I dithered because back in the day when I wrote a blog, often three or four times a week, the posts where I reviewed what I was reading were always the least popular, often to the point of being completely ignored. The most popular posts since you ask, were always about cake. Without fail, cake always produced the most likes and comments, which either says something about my choice of books, or the eating habits of my readers, but let’s not go there. So I dithered, I missed the start of the summer holiday and now we are halfway through August, but I have decided I am going to do it anyway. No doubt I will miss things out or include things you wouldn’t dream of reading, but you might just discover something new that you go on to enjoy.

In the words of Nick Hornby:

“Soon I will be reading books I haven’t read, some I haven’t heard of, recommended by writers I admire. Isn’t that the point of the exercise?”

So I hope you find something new that appeals to you but if you all decide to completely ignore me then hopefully you’ll be back next week, although I’m not promising you cake. In this list I have only included fiction (with one exception), but I might repeat the exercise with non-fiction too… you only have to ask.

1.     Still Life by Sarah Winman

Yes, I know I have written about this before here but this one is my current ‘Desert Island’ book. I have read it twice and I have no doubt I will read it again and if you haven’t read it yet… why not? Switching between London’s East End and Florence, covering half a decade after the second world war it is a story about love and friendship between the group of friends you wish you had. Perhaps most of all it is about accepting people for who they are regardless of race, gender or sexuality, with all their quirks and differences. I think we could all do with embracing that mindset at the moment. Plus it’s a cracking good story!

2.     Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

I’m a big fan of the acclaimed American novelist Anne Tyler and have read several of her books. She writes about family and relationships with a keenly observed attention to the minutiae of everyday life, in character driven stories. However she is not without her critics and her work has been described as homespun, sentimental and repetitive. But even if you are not a fan, Vinegar Girl is different. This is part of a series published by Hobart where well known authors rewrite Shakespeare classics. Set in Baltimore as are the majority of her novels, Vinegar Girl is The Taming of the Shrew set in modern times and it is hilarious. It is a quick and easy read with laugh out loud moments. I have high hopes for some of the others in the series too. Currently on my bedside table is Hag-seed by Margaret Attwood, which is a reworking of The Tempest.

3.     The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

Set in the offices of the Oxford University Press at the start of WW1, we see a world where the men are visible in the world of making books, setting the type, manning the presses and fixing the covers. Whereas the women work hidden, silently gathering, folding and sewing the pages of the books together. Their job is to bind the books not read them. The story with its themes of gender and class is about two women who work in the bindery, orphaned twin sisters Peggy and Maude. Peggy folds, sorts and sews by day reading snippets where she can but at night she reads from an accumulated library of books on their canal boat home. Their story unfolds as Oxford welcomes injured Belgian soldiers and Peggy volunteers to read to the wounded in the makeshift hospital in Somerville College. It is an engaging book that I enjoyed because of the historical detail. It is also a good companion to Williams’ first novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, also set in Oxford at The Press during the same period.

4.     The Various Haunts of Men by Susan Hill

I do enjoy a good thriller and find them great page turners to read in-between more ‘intellectual’ or challenging reads. But I tend to like them a bit grittier than The Thursday Murder Club or a Miss Marple mystery. Ian Rankin, Val McDermid or Mark Billingham usually hit the spot but for well written hard hitting crime with a good back story of characters you can’t beat the Simon Serrailler series by Susan Hill.  Serrailler is a chief inspector in the fictional cathedral city of Lafferton. His parents are both retired doctors and his sister and her husband are both GPs, so in a family of doctors he has rocked the boat by joining the police force. As well as the usual abduction, murder or series of murders to be solved, Serrailler’s personal life and the back stories of his family also feature heavily. The Various Haunts of Men is the first in the set and although you could pick up any of the books in the series as they do stand alone as crime dramas, it is good to start in the beginning with the stories which develop throughout the books. I think I’m up to about no. 8 or 9 now and I usually ready a couple each year although I think I have a third and fourth ready on the ‘to read’ pile.

5.     The Colour Storm by Daniel Dibben

If you enjoy a historical novel woven around real people and events this journey back into Renaissance Venice is full of intrigue, twists and turns. It takes as its main character the real Venetian artist Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco, better known as Giorgione although he is nicknamed Zorzo in the novel. The competition between artists is fierce, and Zorzo’s career and livelihood are in jeopardy with his depts rising. So when he hears rumours of a dazzling new pigment that has been brought to Venice by a rich merchant, Zorzo sets out to acquire the colour and make a name for himself by winning a commission to paint the portrait of the merchant’s wife Sybille. But instead of fame and fortune he finds himself caught up in conspiracy and intrigue against a backdrop of rising water levels and the deadly plague creeping ever closer.

Whist being a work of fiction - there was no elusive new colour unless you wish to draw comparisons to the expensive and sought after ultramarine - the novel conjures the atmosphere and of Renaissance Venice beautifully.

In a similar vein of course is the wonderful “The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell which I wrote about here, or “The Birth of Venus” by Sarah Dunnant, both excellent works of fiction but set against real life events in Renaissance Italy. I can recommend both if you like art and history.

6.     Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink

The extended title of this book is ‘Dear Reader – The Comfort and Joy of Books’ which is exactly what this book is. It is a celebration of books and reading and the pleasure they can bring. Whilst it is not a novel I have included it because it reminded me of so many novels I have read, of novels I would like to read again and of new novels to add to my list. From as far back as she can remember Cathy has lost herself in stories and this is a memoir told through the books she has read, the books that kept her going through family tragedy, and finally the books that lead her to a new career firstly as a bookseller and eventually to being a writer herself. It is joyful and funny as well as very sad at times too, but ultimately it is packed with recommendations from one reader to another.

My overspill pile of unread books!

I would love it if you would leave a comment recommending a book that maybe you have enjoyed and perhaps let us know how you go about choosing your next book? Mine are always a combination of whatever our village reading group is reading, what I might find in our village book swap ‘library’ (housed in an old telephone kiosk) and things I see recommended.